Bendida
Interview conducted on Oct 12,2020
By Dan Locke
Bendida is a symphonic fantasy female fronted metal band from Bulgaria/Sofia. The songs are based on mythology, fantasy and fiction. Traditional Bulgarian Folklore has a discreet influence over the rhythmic. Symphonic elements come from the classical instruments in the band like violin, viola da gamba, French horn, piano and acoustic guitar.
Band members
Vinnie Atanasov – guitars, vocals, compositions, lyrics
Kremena Nikolova – Lead vocals;
Alexander Panayotov – bass;
Bisera Dimitrova – violin;
Viara Grancharova – viola da gamba, contra-bass;
Ralica Georgieva – keyboards
Velislav Kazakov – drums
Plamen Dimitrov – French horn
………………………………………..
+ special guest musicians:
Vladimir Bochev – acoustic guest drummer
+ Our beloved guest choir – Academic Choir Sveta Paraskeva
What is your upbringing?
Vinnie Atanasov: In terms of musical education, I started taking guitar lessons when I was 12, up until 17. Later, I took violin lessons for two years, and that helped me to form a different musical approach and different style of playing. I also found out about many classical composers and their works. That was something that later impacted Bendida’s songs. Apart from that, I hold a magister’s degree in Mathematics and a bachelor’s degree in Informatics. I’ve been working in the IT-sphere for more than 15 years, but music is my main occupation and “true love”.
How did you discover music?
When we were teenagers, my elder brother started bringing different rock and metal albums of different bands. Those were the first bands that left a permanent impact on my mind. Those were Iron Maiden, Slayer, Pink Floyd, Kiss, Helloween, and many more. Thanks to my parents, I have also listened to lots of music, mainly gravitating around older bands, such as Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. Later I found many other bands, and as years passed, I changed my musical taste more or less, but that was only the beginning.
How did you start to write music?
I felt that I needed it. My first works were intricate combinations of metal, funk, jazz, and alternative. That reflected the styles which I listened to back then – I was 18 or 19 years old. But the base of it was metal. It was only later when things began to change. With Bendida, we still have an interesting mixture of styles. That is why I would not say that we play symphonic metal – our music has much more details and can’t be associated with one particular style.
Why did you decide to create the atmosphere of BENDIDA’s sound gets completed with an ancient baroque instrument – Viola da gamba?
Our viola player, Viara Grancharova, came in the band five years ago – she was invited by our singer, Kremena. She had spotted her at different concerts for baroque music and suggested that we invite her as a guest musician for a couple of acoustic shows. That is what we did and the shows turned out to be great. Viara and her instrument – Viola da gamba – made the songs sound more arcane and mysterious, giving the band’s sound this classical hue. That is why we asked her to become a permanent member of the band, she accepted and has now been a part of our colorful line-up for 5 years. We are probably the only metal band in the world that uses such an instrument.
What was your first performance like?
Our first show happened exactly ten years ago, and it was quite a success because we had rehearsed hard for months. There were many people – the venue was full. Most of them had come out of curiosity because they wanted to hear how we sound. We were very excited, and everything went well, with no mistakes and technical problems. The show was great, even though we didn’t have enough experience as a band.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
That must have been our instrumental, called “The Arrows of Bendis” – a neoclassical piece, composed a long time ago. We still have no studio recording of it, but we have played it live a couple of times. We will probably record it in the future because that would be interesting.
How did you start the band?
I started the band twelve years ago with the idea of composing music in our own way by combining metal music, symphonic elements, and elements from the traditional Bulgarian folklore music. Apart from that, we incorporate many other things which make our style quite recognizable. Many people came and left for those twelve years but the idea remained the same and now I think that we have found the perfect line-up with trained classical musicians, and it is a pleasure to work together. Things changed a lot with the arrival of our singer Kremena: the band became more active and we started doing more recordings. We are bound by one common idea and work together to achieve it.
How did the band get its name?
The name comes from the ancient Thracian goddess of the moon Bendis. She is also the goddess of the hunt, and keeper of nature, and in some of the older sources, she is described as the Mother. The name fits perfectly because a large part of the lyrics gravitates around ancient mythologies – the Thracian, Sumerian, and Slavic. Here are some examples: „Enter the Sanctuary” is connected to the Thracian mythology, „The Legend of Gilgamesh” to Sumerian mythology, “Beast and Man”, and „The Fern Flower” to Slavic mythology.
Tell me about your album First of the Heroes.
That is our latest album. It was released in March, and we are quite pleased with the result. The actual recording and production happened in a short period, but the quality of the compositions is very high. We used many musical instruments, which are not typical for metal and rock – viola, violin, French horn, tamboura, and others. We also invited a real choir – academic choir “St. Paraskeva”. They are our friends, and the result of our work together is epic and stunning. We are also quite pleased with the work of our sound engineer Vladimir Bochev, who is responsible for the recording, mixing, and mastering of the album. The artwork was done by our singer Kremena Nikolova, who is an artist by education. It is indeed beautiful, successfully preserving the warrior metal style.
Were you thinking about all the doctors and nurses on the front line with the title of the album?
I hope that we will not see so many doctors and nurses in connection to musically-related news. These are people that we cannot live without but it is best if we stay away from any health-related problems. The current number one topic in the world is concerned with the virus and how to protect from it. I hope that at one point this will be left in the background, so people would have more time to focus on more spiritual things, such as music. In the current state of affairs, art as a whole is being neglected but I hope that things will soon change for the better.
What is your favorite track on the album?
I can’t say that I have a favorite one. I love each song differently but those that stand out the most are “The Legend of Gilgamesh”, “Hunt the Hunter”, “Vampires Ball”, “Beast and Man”, and “Civilization”.
Tell me about the making of your video Civilization and how different was it to make than your first video Witch and the Devil?
We shot the video at one very beautiful and ancient place – the fortress Peristera, at Peshtera, Bulgaria. A magical place, which helped us to achieve the magical atmosphere of the video. Our friends from the academic choir “St. Paraskeva” joined us, so we were able to produce one purely magical video. Our singer Kremena is in the role of Goddess Bendis. There are some impressive shots of archery against the background of the fortress and the surrounding mountains.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
We aim to lead a healthy way of living, especially while on tour. It is a hard job, but we try to do it. We avoid alcohol and other bad habits. The good thing is that we are a harmonious team, and we always have fun when we are together. That is very important during longer journeys because this makes the atmosphere more healthy and pleasant.
What do you feel about streaming music?
That is part of the music industry at the moment, and for many artists, the income from streaming platforms are bigger than the ones coming from the shows. We use all the streaming platforms to popularize our music because we know that this is a crucial part of our future.
Digital vs. Vinyl?
Both! Many people go back and re-discover the advantages and the value of the vinyl, including myself. Its sounding is way more natural and, listening to vinyl brings different emotions. On the other hand, the vinyl will remain a small part of the music industry because of various reasons when compared to the streaming platforms, which are way more popular, more accessible and do not cost that much to the listener. Nevertheless, I think that vinyl fans will increase in number, and many people re-discover the magic of its vintage sound.
What are your feelings about the social uprising going in the US?
Our whole band is against all kinds of violence, especially if it is directed towards innocent people. The situation in the US is out of control, and even if there were some reasons, the meaning of it all was gradually lost, and only violence and the riots remained.
Do you feel that the Me-Too movement has helped female performers?
I don’t think that there is any relation. It is wonderful that such organizations helping women in need exist, but I believe that music is far away from this. In our band, we are 50/50 men and women, and we are a good example of an excellent musical partnership.
On March 8th a 27-year-old man from Pleven, and a 75-year-old from Gabrovo died from the virus. Either one had traveled to an area with the virus. And on March 7th you did a concert in Bucharest, Romania. Were you worried about the virus at that time?
At that time, we weren’t bothered by the virus at all. There was still no mass hysteria around it. We were more concerned about being blocked at the border for some reason, which would have failed our show. Of course, the bigger part of our tour had to be postponed, but the situation required it.
Do you think kids should go back to school this fall?
I think that they should go back to the classrooms because online tuition is not efficient enough, especially for the younger students. Of course, all the safety precautions have to be observed.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what meaning does that song carry for you?
Many songs echo in my mind quite often, be it famous ones or songs of my band. Usually, I hear ideas for future songs that are about to be composed.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus is going to affect the music business in the future?
I hope that things will go back to normal because, with the appearance of this virus, the music industry and everything related to it changed for the worse. The main thing for a musician is to perform in front of an audience, and in the current moment, this is being hindered.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
We focused on the online promotion of the new album and started composing materials for the next one. The positive thing about isolation was that in there is tons of free time, we could compose, write lyrics, and prepare for the next album.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
The period was perfect for one to focus on the things that they liked to do once but had forgotten for some reason, mostly due to lack of time. I managed to develop many musical ideas that were left aside during all those years, and I managed to pay them some attention. The moment is perfect for creating new music. More free time and solitude are the ideal conditions for an artist.
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. During the lockdown you released Bendida – live with Academic choir Sveta Paraskeva (Sofia) with conductor Galina Lukanova. The stage looked full. Was it recorded before the virus?
Actually, this concert happened last year, before the virus struck. The reason to release it officially was that one of our major TV channels – BNT showed interest, and aired it during the strictest times of the lockdown. We are very pleased with this because, in that way, many people were able to see and hear us in a period when concerts couldn’t happen.
Live Nations just started Live Nation from Home. Which are concerts from artist homes. An all-new virtual music hub keeping fans connected to their favorite artists featuring daily live streams, performances, new music and more. Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
It is possible to happen, and I suppose that it will remain a safer way of performing live. It has its advantages. These concerts have views, especially when there are no live shows, and I believe that it is an acceptable alternative with all the restrictions for the real concerts.
Live Nation is starting to do the first ever US drive-in concert series – LIVE FROM THE DRIVE-IN – which started on July 10, 2020. Now there are many other drive-in concerts popping up. Do you think this is something you would be willing to do?
If there is no other alternative, we might try something like that, but for now, we would like to stick to the traditional ways of performing, with an audience that we can see. I don’t think that anything will ever replace that.
For small bands who do not play in front of large crowds, this is not really an issue. How do you see bands going back to smaller venues and doing things like play for the door, with no guaranties?
I hope that this will not happen. I believe that things will go back to normal next year, with some compromises. Some things will not be the same. The age of big festivals is not gone, and I don’t think that this will happen anytime soon.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
This might happen at some point. I believe that there was a holographic concert with Ronnie James Dio not that long ago. It is controversial. After all, I believe that real concerts bring real emotions and feelings that can’t be reached in any other way, except by having the real eye-to-eye contact between the performer and the audience.
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
Still doing the music that we like and spreading our message across the world. I hope that in five years, we would have released at least two more albums, each more successful than the previous one, supported by a long tour to promote them.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
Stay metal! You are all very welcome in our magical world. Listen to Bendida – we have a lot of stories to share with you!
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